Christine Flowers: Why I’m ready to buy a gun

"But the person who posted on my Facebook page shared a photo of a young boy standing over a  priest he’d just shot through the forehead. He also made some comments that I found personally threatening, and I called the police. It was the first time I’d ever done that."

Christine M. Flowers

Philly.com  . . . "But it’s time to take my life into my own hands, forget about all of the anti-gun rhetoric that I hear bandied about by those who exploit tragedy for their own political purposes, and make 2019 the year that I stop expecting others to look out for me.

"I think it started with the election of District Attorney Larry Krasner, which brought me the realization that in our current society, it can often feel like victims are left to fend for themselves. Krasner’s policies, developed over years as a defense attorney, seem to give him an affinity for the accused over the victimized. Recent stories about how his office has neglected to keep victims informed of plea deals strengthen my beliefs. It feels like victims don’t get the same amount of respect as, say, the fellow who stabs a young real estate agent in the back, or the guy who shoots a grocery store owner in the hip, or the fellow who bites off the ear of an innocent bystander.

"And it’s not just Krasner. It seems that we’ve become a society where criminals and alleged criminals are given an outsized amount of sympathy. Even President Trump just touted his criminal justice reform package. While I don’t think the solution is an old-style Dodge City shootout, it’s dawned on me that I might need something more than my persuasive personality as protection.

"Then, the other day, a fellow who called me a fascist posted something on my Facebook page that transcends First Amendment protections." . . .